The Chicago City Council was scheduled to vote on the 2012 budget Wednesday but first, the Chicago Transit Authority board was to vote on its own budget Tuesday; but not without contention. CTA President Forrest Claypool has said unions' outdated work rules needed to go.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday defended the Chicago Transit Authority's plan to close its budget deficit largely through union contract negotiations.The CTA is proposing changes to union work rules that it says would save the agency $160 million to avoid fare increases and service cuts.

Mayor Emanuel delivered his view of Chicago’s fiscal future Wednesday: He presented his 2012 budget to Chicago’s City Council. In order to close a deficit expected to run over $600 million, the mayor utilized a number of different tactics.

The mayor introduced a measure to the city council this week that will cut the head tax in half next year and do away with it by 2014.If a company in Chicago employs more than 50 people, it has to pay four dollars a month for every employee. Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls this head tax a "job killer."